Police remand of Himachal Pradesh MLA Ram Kumar Chaudhary, accused in the murder of a young Haryana woman, was today extended by another four days by a local court in Panchkula. The police told the court that they need to further interrogate the newly-elected MLA to ascertain the whereabouts of other accused in murder of the 24-year-old woman. The court was told that police wants to find the truck driver, whose vehicle was allegedly used in smashing the face of the woman. After evading arrest, Chaudhary had surrendered before a Panchkula court on January 8. The Bed student’s body, with brutally smashed head, was found on the roadside in Sector 21 of Panchkula on November 22 last year. At the end of his six days police remand, the MLA was produced before a court in Panchkula, near here, today, which extended his police remand by another four days. The woman was a resident of Hoshiarpur district. Later, the post-mortem report said that she had died of a head injury and recently had an abortion. The prosecution lawyer also sought remand on the grounds that they need to interrogate Chaudhary further to find his missing mobile phone as it could give crucial clues to police. “A truck was used in the crime and we have to find it and its driver Tilak Raj, who is a native of Kangra town in Himachal Pradesh. “We also need to find out the original mobile phone of Chaudhary as it could give us more clues about his relationship with the deceased and other co-accused,” the prosecution lawyer said. However, the defence lawyer opposed further remand on the ground that Chaudhary “has been in police custody for last six days. But police could not find anything substantial indicating his involvement in the crime…” The court allowed that one of the defence lawyers could meet Chaudhary for one-hour everyday during the remand period. PTI
